Dance Commentary and Reviews by Heather Desaulniers, freelance dance critic, former dancer and choreographer, PhD in dance history.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Empty Spaces

Pictured: Erin KohoutPhoto: Rogelio Lopez

Rogelio Lopez &
Dancers

Empty Spaces

Shawl-Anderson Dance
Center, Berkeley

March 27th,
2015

The Dance Up Close/East
Bay performance series has a long history of showcasing work from this region’s
best emerging choreographic talent. And their current program, Rogelio Lopez
& Dancers’ Empty Spaces, is no
exception. For this, his first full-length evening of contemporary dance, Lopez
went all in, presenting four simultaneous physical meditations in a single
program.

The sold-out audience
was divided up and assigned one of four separate rooms. In each of these
spaces, a distinct modern dance installation unfolded. Performers entered one
studio, engaged in Lopez’s choreography for that space, then exited and moved
onto another space to participate in an entirely different variation. An
abundance of comings and goings made for a very organic and fluid atmosphere and
a perfect portrait of the impermanence that fuels human interaction.

As you walked into
Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, the mood was haunting. Not haunted, but haunting.
A dark space; luminaries perched in the lobby; a background score of rushing
wind. As Empty Spaces began, two
women communicated a complex duet, equal parts intimate and bleak. Lit by
handheld flashlights, the pas de deux was full of instances where they were forcing
each other’s movements. And it was purposefully emotionless, almost stoic -
clearly together in the space, but also very detached from each other. This
distance was palpable even when they embraced. What a poetic environment Lopez
had created – the pair was as close as could be and completely far apart at the
same time. As other dancers joined the scene, contact improvisation style lifts
made their way into the physical vocabulary. Even though that type of partnering
calls for camaraderie, support and awareness, these sequences still felt
confrontational. But mid-way through Empty
Spaces, there was a turning point, during a women’s trio. The haunting
nature of the piece still percolated but a tenderness also started to appear; a
softer connection. This carried through to the end of the forty-five minute
work, where embraces began to take on a newfound affection. And the final group
sequence fed off this duality. What began as a unison set of swinging and
circular motifs quickly fragmented like a turning kaleidoscope into various duets
and trios.

Two through lines were
present in Lopez’s Empty Spaces.
Choreographically, no matter what step, what style or what dynamic, the
movement always extended beyond. Beyond the fingers, beyond the toes, beyond
the top of the head, beyond the solar plexus. The choreography was not about
the endgame or making a specific shape, rather, it was a journey of continual
energy and a pathway of growth. Narratively, Lopez revealed that the notion of
something being ‘haunting’ exists on a spectrum. The term does not have a single
point of definition, and while it often feels negative, it isn’t always that. Instead,
it is a complicated and fluctuating idea with a wider interpretation. Haunting
experiences can absolutely be foreboding, hopeless and traumatic. But others
may be more of a mystical and unforgettable nature. And Empty Spaces demonstrated that on occasion, some may even contain a
little ounce of grace.